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Preschool physical activity, nutrition program targets childhood obesity
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A program targeting physical activity and nutrition, developed for use in preschool settings, resulted in significant improvements in levels of movement for children attending daycare, according to research published in Childhood Obesity.
The increases in activity with the Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care, observed by Marc Bonis, PhD, of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, and colleagues, bodes well for the battle against obesity.
“Physical inactivity has been recognized as a major contributing factor to the obesity epidemic, and research has shown that children in daycare are generally inactive and not meeting physical activity recommendations,” study researcher Melinda Sothern, PhD, of LSU, said in a press release. “A goal is to intervene when the children are young, to prevent obesity and build the habits that will promote lifelong health.”
In a randomized study, the researchers evaluated physical activity in 209 children (aged 3-5 years, 104 boys and 105 girls) from 26 licensed Louisiana daycare centers, evenly divided into treatment and control centers. Workshops for facility staff provided information on overweight, nutrition, physical activity and growing, healthy kids; the sessions were led by dieticians, who maintained contact and provided support. Educational materials with physical activity and nutrition recommendations for home were also distributed to parents and guardians.
Accelerometers were attached to each child for 2 days before the intervention and immediately after 6 months, to determine physical activity levels. Height, mass and waist data were gathered.
Based on regression analyses, the treatment group showed increases in both moderate and vigorous physical activity compared with the control group (P<.05). Children also demonstrated increases in total physical activity from study beginning to end with treatment compared with no treatment (P<.05).
Significant increases in height for both groups were observed through regression analyses, but no differences between.
“Turn-key programs like this are beneficial to many daycare centers that do not have the resources to design, identify and implement the types of improvements that are necessary to address childhood obesity,” Sothern said in the release.
Disclosures: The study was funded by the Office of Public Health–Maternal and Child Health Department of Louisiana.
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